Medical expert: Romelu Lukaku’s exit plan may be in ‘jeopardy’ amid Chelsea injury news
Chelsea risk derailing a half-fit Romelu Lukaku’s chances of a summer exit if they start him in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday (17 April).
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Lukaku, 28, missed out on Chelsea’s Champions League last-eight heartache against Real Madrid on Tuesday (11 April) through an Achilles issue.
But per The Telegraph ahead of kick-off in that clash, the Belgian striker is well in contention for the clash against Crystal Palace at Wembley.
Football Insider revealed last month (20 March) that Lukaku is “not happy” at Stanford Bridge and wants to quit.
Dinnery suggests that bringing him back prematurely could harm Chelsea’s chances of recouping the £97.5million they paid for him just last August.
“Lukaku probably had that FA Cup game against Palace pencilled in, and he’d have had a first XI place in mind,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“The fact that he’s not involved in Madrid and hasn’t trained fully, that’s not a major concern.
“However, it’s more the fact that the injury is impacting severely on his training and he isn’t going to have that sharpness and freshness.
“There may be concerns about that. It may mean that when he does return, it is from the bench.
“The fact that he may not have a future at the club may also affect his involvement. They will want to protect their investment.
“You don’t want him to get a serious setback and jeopardise a potential summer move away from the club.”
This site also revealed last Saturday (9 April) that Inter Milan are interested in re-signing Lukaku but only on loan.
The centre-forward has registered 12 goals and two assists in his second spell at Chelsea.
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